Friday, July 14, 2017

Exclusive: President Bill Clinton’s Kosovo war of 1999 was loved by neocons and liberal hawks the forerunner for Iraq, Libya, Syria and other conflicts this century but Kosovo’s political violence and lawlessness today underscore the grim consequences of those strategies even when they “succeed,” writes Jonathan Marshall.

The insatiable appetite of America’s bipartisan foreign policy elites for military intervention, despite its record of creating failing states in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen, traces back to the marriage of liberal and neoconservative interventionists during the Clinton administration’s 78-day bombing of Serbia to create the break-away state of Kosovo in 1999.

One scholar-advocate has called NATO’s campaign “The most important precedent supporting the legitimacy of unilateral humanitarian intervention.” Even Sen. Bernie Sanders was proud to support that use of American power, ostensibly “to prevent further genocide.”
Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci.
Kosovo Foreign Minister (and former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army) Hashim Thaci.
But Kosovo, which is still not recognized as an independent state by nearly half of all UN members, and which still relies on 4,600 NATO troops to maintain order, is hardly a showcase for the benefits of military intervention. With an unemployment rate of 35 percent, Kosovo is wracked by persistent outbreaks of terrorism, crime, and political violence.

Following a series of violent street protests and wild disruptions of parliament, the leader of the radical nationalist party, VetÃ«vendosje, announced on Feb. 19, “This regime is now is in its final days. They will not last long.”

That day, members of VetÃ«vendosje set off tear gas cannisters in parliament and tussled with police in the latest of their many protests against an agreement reached by the government last summer to grant limited powers to the country’s Serbian minority, in return for Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo. Opposition lawmakers also rail against endemic corruption and the country’s under-performing economy.

Two days earlier, at least 15,000 Kosovars gathered in the central square of Pristina, the country’s capital, to demand the government’s resignation. In January, thousands of protesters clashed with police, hurling Molotov cocktails, setting a major government building and armored police cars on fire, and wounding 24 police officers.

“The aim of this protest was to overthrow the government with violence,” the government said in a statement. The U.S. ambassador chimed in, “Political violence threatens democracy and all that Kosovo has achieved since independence.”

This violence gets little attention from the American media in part because, unlike the Ukrainian demonstrators who overthrew their democratically elected government in 2014, Kosovo’s protesters are targeting a pro-Western government that eagerly seeks membership in the European Union.

But it’s no wonder that Kosovo’s political fabric is so rent by violent confrontations. The rump state was created by a violent secessionist movement led by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). That guerrilla band of Albanian nationalists was covertly backed by the German secret service to weaken Serbia. Its terrorist attacks on Serbian villages and government personnel in the mid-1990s prompted a brutal military crackdown by Serbia, followed by NATO’s decisive intervention in 1999.

During the fighting the KLA drove tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs from Kosovo as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign to promote independence for the majority Albanian population. It recruited Islamist militants, including followers of Osama Bin Laden, from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan and other countries.

President Bill Clinton’s special envoy to the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, called the KLA “without any question, a terrorist group,” and a Council on Foreign Relations backgrounder added, “most of its activities were funded by drug running.”

None of that, however, stopped Washington from embracing the KLA’s cause against Serbia, a policy spearheaded by the liberal interventionist First Lady Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Without authorization from the United Nations, NATO began bombing Serbia in March 1999, killing some 500 civilians, demolishing billions of dollars’ worth of industrial plants, bridges, schools, libraries and hospitals, and even hitting the Chinese embassy. (“It should be lights out in Belgrade,” demanded New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. “Every power grid, water pipe, bridge, road and war-related factory has to be targeted. Like it or not, we are at war with the Serbian nation.”)

Following Serbia’s capitulation, according to Human Rights Watch, “elements of the KLA” engaged in “widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries. This destruction was combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities. By late-2000 more than 210,000 Serbs had fled the province . . . The desire for revenge provides a partial explanation, but there is also a clear political goal in many of these attacks: the removal from Kosovo of non-ethnic Albanians in order to better justify an independent state.”

Former KLA leaders, including its political head Hashim ThaÃ§i, went on to dominate the new Kosovo state. A 2010 report by the Council of Europe declared that ThaÃ§i, who was then Kosovo’s prime minister, headed a “mafia-like” group that smuggled drugs, guns and human organs on a grand scale through Eastern Europe. The report’s author accused the international community of turning a blind eye while ThaÃ§i’s group of KLA veterans engaged in “assassinations, detentions, beatings and interrogations” to maintain power and profit from their criminal activities.

Prime Minister ThaÃ§i and the Kosovo government strenuously denied the allegations and succeeded for years in resisting accountability. Their American friends were eager to put the past behind as well. In 2012, Madeleine Albright and a former Clinton special envoy to the Balkans bid to take control of the country’s state-owned telecommunications company despite widespread allegations of corruption, the attempted assassination of the telecommunications regulatory chief, and the murder of the state privatization agency’s chief.

No one seemed immune from corruption. A study of the European Union’s own legal mission to Kosovo suggested that its members may have taken bribes to drop investigations of senior Kosovo politicians for rampant criminal activity.

In 2014, a three-year E.U. investigation concluded that “senior officials of the former Kosovo Liberation Army” should be indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including “unlawful killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions in camps in Kosovo and Albania, sexual violence, other forms of inhumane treatment, forced displacements of individuals from their homes and communities, and desecration and destruction of churches and other religious sites.”

Under tough pressure from the United States and E.U., Kosovo’s parliament finally agreed last summer to permit a special court to prosecute former KLA leaders for war crimes. The court will begin operating this year in The Hague.

“The sad thing is that the United States and European countries knew 10 years ago that ThaÃ§i and his men were engaged in drug smuggling and creating a mafia state,” said one European ambassador last year. “The attitude was, ‘He’s a bastard, but he’s our bastard.’”

Whether delayed justice will clean up Kosovo’s “mafia state,” and whether belated granting of rights to the Serbian minority will ease or aggravate Kosovo’s explosive ethnic tensions, remain to be seen. One thing’s for sure: a great many people have died in the name of this great “humanitarian intervention,” and many more are still suffering for it. Kosovo is no Libya or Syria, but neither is it any kind of showcase for the benefits of U.S. armed intervention.

Jonathan Marshall is author or co-author of five books on international affairs, including The Lebanese Connection: Corruption, Civil War and the International Drug Traffic (Stanford University Press, 2012). Some of his previous articles for Consortiumnews were “Risky Blowback from Russian Sanctions”; “Neocons Want Regime Change in Iran”; “Saudi Cash Wins France’s Favor”; “The Saudis’ Hurt Feelings”; “Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Bluster”; “The US Hand in the Syrian Mess”; and “Hidden Origins of Syria’s Civil War.” ]

RCC tasked to monitor and inform on the progress achieved in its implementation

Trieste - The leaders of Western Balkans Six (WB6) endorsed the Multi-annual Action Plan on a Regional Economic Area in the Western Balkans (MAP), at the summit in Trieste today. The MAP has been created to enable unobstructed flow of goods, services, capital and highly skilled labour, making the region more attractive for investment and commerce, accelerating convergence with the EU thus bringing prosperity to Western Balkans citizens.

The MAP actions are designed to help the private sector reap the economies of scale of a 20 million market, and refocus the growth model towards more indigenous, long-term driven growth. The actions are focused on:
promotion of further trade integration;
introduction of a dynamic regional investment space;
facilitation of regional mobility;
creation of a digital integration agenda.
The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretariat has been tasked, together with CEFTA for the free trade area, to inform the Berlin process Summits on regular basis on the progress achieved on the actions defined in the MAP.

“We at the RCC are proud to be tasked by the regional leaders and EU to prepare this ambitious plan. It serves as an important stepping stone for the Western Balkans to better integrate into European and global value chains, and converge faster with the rest of the continent,” said RCC Secretary General, Goran Svilanovic.

“Six WB leaders expressed their full commitment to implement the MAP. This will provide important impetus to the EU accession paths based on individual merits, speed up full compliance with the Copenhagen economic criteria and unleash greater economic potentials. The MAP stems from the commitments undertaken within the framework of the South East Europe 2020 Strategy and Central European Free Trade Agreement. It is based on EU rules and principles as reflected in the Stabilisation and Association Agreements.”

WB6 leaders recognized that the implementation of a comprehensive agenda put forward by MAP will require dedicated engagement and strong coordination and partnership between the authorities, existing regional organizations, the private sector, the international organizations and donors active in the relevant policy areas, and the European Union.

Therefore, WB6 Leaders have called on the international organizations, IFIs and donors working to support reforms in the policy areas of the MAP to align their assistance programmes with the needs identified in MAP implementation. A dedicated donor coordination conference should be organised for that purpose before the end of 2017.

This is according to the Vienna-based daily Presse, that cites "warnings" about the EU "losing the Western Balkans" that have been "piling up in various publications."

Media interests in the region is increasing, reporters are being sent there and reports published, says Presse.

The magazine Europaische Rundschau - "which never let the Balkans out if its sight" - is cited as an example. In its latest edition, it published "Vedran Jihic's warning that the Balkans is a 'time bomb that is ticking'," said the daily.

"Powerful people are working to build their power, nationalism is again, in many places, as a technique to rule," said Jihic, a Vienna-based expert on the Balkans.

The newspaper also writes that Germany's Spiegel magazine referred to Western Balkan states as "the orphans of the continent" and warned that there is "a palpable distancing from the European project."

"The fact that the EU as a symbol of security and well-being is losing its influence is as understandable as it is dangerous. Peace is endangered by the masked aspirations of Albanians for a common state, and by the desire for having great power of the Serbian nationalists," said the German magazine.

Another one - New Eastern Europe, published in Krakow, Poland - has devoted as many as 12 articles to the "Balkan carousel" in its summer edition - among them that penned by Sarajevo-based writer Miljenko Jergovic, who asks, "Is Europe losing the Balkans?"

This magazine also pays attention to the topic of the Balkans as a place for recruiting militant Islamists, recalling that one-quarter of all Islamic State's foreign fighters coming from Europe "come from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia."

And since Islamic State is "under pressure" in Iraq and Syria, "the fighters returning could act as a cigarette lighter on a powder keg" that is made up of "an explosive religious and ethnic blend" - said the article.

(Tanjug)
Dacic said that he particularly wanted to point out that "Serbs and Greeks are friends and brothers" - something "confirmed by our historic friendship and mutual solidarity through centuries."

"Two Serbian holy places that every Serb needs to see in the territory of Greece are (monastery) Hilandar and Corfu - the island of Vido," Dacic said.

"This shows how connected we are. It is the obligation of politicians to follow this attachment that exists between our two nations," the minister said, adding that he was looking forward to Thursday's meeting in Thessaloniki of the High Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Greece.

In that meeting, the delegation of Serbia will be led by President Aleksandar Vucic, Dacic said, adding that the discussion will focus on "the most important topics in our mutual relations, relations in the region, as well as large infrastructure projects that are ahead of us."

"Greece is one of the biggest investors in Serbia, these investments exceeded two billion euros. Last year, economic exchange was about 400 million euros, it is increasing, and we expect an even higher level of economic exchange in the coming years," Dacic said.

Serbia and Greece, Dacic said, must support and assisted one another.

"Serbia is firmly behind the defense of the territorial integrity of Cyprus and we are grateful to Cyprus and Greece for the support they give to the territorial integrity of Serbia, for their stance when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija," the minister said.

It is very important, he continued, to have "a regular communication dynamic," to discuss regional issues - such as the influence of Turkey in the region and the migrant crisis.

"We need to discuss cooperation in the fight against terrorism, but also the negative impact of the Greater Albania factor on the Balkans, and the problem regarding the name and relations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Dacic said, according to a statement issued by the Serbian MFA.

"We agreed to meet twice a year, once in Serbia, the other time in Greece, for our sectors to consult regular,ly, and to regularly align our positions in order to better support one another," Dacic concluded.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Trebisht in northeastern Albania looks like a ghost village, emptied of its residents by a rush to get Bulgarian passports that open the door to the European Union, AFP reported.
Arman Kadriu has an Albanian name, but the 12-year-old boy says he considers himself Bulgarian.
"I don't want to stay here taking care of cows. I want to be a football player," he said, covered in sweat, as he juggled a ball with his feet on a dusty road in the village in the Golo Brdo region.

"In England, with a Bulgarian passport, it's possible," he said, switching languages to say "Dovizhdane!" -- goodbye in Bulgarian.
Bulgaria and Albania do not share a border.

And non-EU member Albania, where a law on minorities is under consideration, does not count Bulgarians among its recognised ethnic communities, unlike the Greeks, Macedonians or Serb-Montenegrins.
The ethnicity of historically Slavic-speaking communities in parts of Albania's east has long been fluid and disputed -- neighbouring Macedonia claims they are ethnic Macedonians.

But according to the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, which helps in obtaining a passport, Bulgarian families have been settled in Albania since the 5th century and their descendants are part of its diaspora.
No statistics are available, but Bulgarian organisations in Albania estimate that there are around 100,000 of these descendants.

The European Parliament seems to agree: in February, it requested of Tirana "that the rights of people with Bulgarian ethnicity in the Prespa, Golo Brdo and Gora regions be enshrined in law and ensured in practice".
The recommendation "has given renewed hope. Every day at least seven or eight people come to ask about obtaining Bulgarian citizenship," said Haxhi Pirushi.
He heads the Prosperity Goloborda association, which provides certificates of Bulgarian origin to Albanians and is recognised by the government in Sofia./ Sofia News Agency

The Panepirotic Federation of America vehemently condemns the brutal destruction by Albanian authorities on August 26 of a Greek Orthodox Church in the Chimara region of the former Communist nation that once prohibited all forms of religious worship. The Church of St. Athanasius in the town of Drymades, known in Albanian as Dhermi, was completely destroyed by government agents acting on the authority of Albania’s Interior Ministry.

Petitioning European Council

The land in Himara belongs to the people of Himara! Land and property registration NOW! Signe now this petition to the European Councile, for the registration of properties to the only and single eligible owner: the PEOPLE of Himara.

Himara Community of USA, Addresses Himarra Property Issues with US State Department / Ambassador

The Honorable John F. Kerry Secretary of State U.S. Department of State Dear Mr. Secretary: We are writing to inform you of issues affecting United States citizens who have vested interests in the municipality of Himarra, Albania, and to express our concern about their long outstanding and unresolved problems regarding property rights. Over 1500 US citizens of Himarrioton descent are disenfranchised of their rights to the ownership of their family properties which were confiscated in 1945 by the communist regime. They have been attempting to claim their family properties since the end of the communist period without success due to the laws and policies of the Albanian government which a) fail to address ownership rights of pre-1945 landowners, b) fail to address the rights of owners who were forced to emigrate to the United States for economic or political reasons, and c) fail to address the rights of those with dual citizenship who have attempted to claim their properties as Albanian citizens.

Opinion - Kisha Autoqefale dhe Greqia! (14 tetor 2013)

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Officially: Omonoia, In Albania over 300.000 Greeks declared

30 % or 86,000, are declared electronically and this process includes 85 % of the members of the Greek minority Vlora Prefecture is the mostly populated by Greeks, there are about 90. 000 Greeks. TIRANA - Democratic Union of the Greek Ethnic Minority, Omonoia publishes the results of the census of members of the Ethnic Greek Community, organized by it structures. The Prime Census, was the decision of the General Council of the organization as members argued for exclusion of the Greek minority in the months Census October 2011, organized by the Institute of Statistics .

The history of elections of the Albanian dictator, to terrorize the people of Himara

A special Edition by SManalysis December 2, 1945: The Himariotes, abstaining from communist referendum, as happens usually for Himara the Albanian historians, never wrote this tragic history. Nikos Koutoulas, who boldly told the special communist court: "I'm Greek . I do not know Albanian, get me a interpret!" Still now, Albania never hold free politic elections, including Himara Municipality

Albanian Writer Raises Storm in Kosovo

Kosovo officials have rounded on Albanian writer Fatos Lubonja for saying that the political elites in both countries turned a blind eye to the crimes of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA. Besar Likmeta BIRN Tirana Albanian writer Fatos Lubonja In the article published in the May edition of the magazine Sudosteuropa, Lubonja focused on the reaction of Albania’s political class to the acquittal of the former KLA commander and Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj by the Hague Tribunal. Lubonja wrote that following Haradinaj’s release, the elite in Pristina and Tirana celebrated him as a hero, despite having enough information that the charges brought by prosecutors in the Hague were correct.

As long as human rights and civil liberties are violated in Himara Region primarily property, Greec

Himara Associations: Athens to block the status of Albania, if Tirana, does not solve the property issue Two associations based in Himara, "The Himara Community" and "Sea Coastal Association" have asked in a statement distributed to the media this afternoon that Greece "should block the candidate status for Albania" if Tirana, will not solve the problems of Human Rights and particularly the issue of the properties in Himara Region. The statement takes into consideration the visit Tirana following day of E.Venizelos the Greek Deputy Prime Minister also heads the Presidency of the European :

Albania minorities object to territorial division

Albania's civil society is calling on officials to diffuse tensions and protect minorities from discrimination and potential violence as a result of the decision to scrap the existing municipalities and create a new territorial administration. The government reduced the 384 local government units to 65, effectively creating entirely Albanian-majority municipalities. Greek, Macedonian and other minority representatives said the government's move violates their rights and international norms.

Poll: Albania, the most racist country in Europe

An international survey data from the World Value Survey collected and processed by the Washington Post reveals that Albania is the most racist country in Europe and worldwide more racists. The survey attempts to make a connection between economic development and being tolerant inside a society with ethnic crashes.. Thus, the most tolerant countries in the world are the Nordic countries, Great Britain and some of its former colonies, the United States, Canada and Australia. Countries with high tolerance are also in Latin America, where Venezuela exception.

Fatos Lobonja: Albania needs formatting not to rebirth

Fatos Lobonja, in an interview for the program "PULS" the KohaVision in Kosovo, there appeared criticism of developments in Albania. According Lubonja Albanians as a society still can not be consolidated. The reasons, according to him, are corrupt Albanian political elites on all sides, inside and abroad. He said they did not thirst for power leaves organize and move forward. Edi Rama's arrival at the head of government, according Lubonja, will not change the image of Albania, because Rama is associated with the oligarchs and organized crime. " He should answer that elite and non-citizens of Albania ", Lobonja estimates.

Nicholas Gage: Athens to give soon the Greek citizenship for thousand north epiriotes

World Council delegation of Epirus Abroad, meeting with the Ministry of Interior for the vote of northern epiriotes and the resolve the pension problem The visit of Nicholas Gage, is considering as the latest diplomatic effort of USA lobbing, for implementation of the "Protocol of Corfu" agreement, between Albania and Greece, based on the ulterior escalation in Balkan region. The Delegation of the World Council of Foreign Relation of Epirus (PSIE) headed by the Honorary President Nicolas Gkatzogianni, had a working meeting with the Greek Interior minister Stylianidis and v/ minister Syrigos.

Himariotes, lobbying in USA, for Autonomy

A group of people of Himara, with American citizenship, are lobbying to the US Congress and the State Department, that the Himara Region, receive the right for autonomy, according to international historical right to his self-determination. Proposed to merge all associations operating in USA, Greece and Albania, to be united in a single purpose: Autonomous Himara, Movements in the Balkans geopolitical, Mitrovica case, cutting pension from Greece, scarce public investment, robbery and illegal registration of property, etc., have raised a great concern, as never in the recent relationship of Himara, Albanian and Greek state relationship.

Pyrros Dimas, meeting with the Greek Minister of Labour, for problem of pensions to the Northern Ep

- Initiative of MP of PASOK, Pyrros Dimas for preparing and drafting a legislative proposal in collaboration with representatives of the Northern Epirus organizations. - The Minister agreed on the need to find a solution and urged the Member to develop concrete proposals, and that after consultation with the Secretary of the New Republic, Manolis Kefaloyiannis will be submitted jointly to the Minister of Finance.

"Kakome Case" again to the Albanian Tribunals

The Greek Community continues to "constant war" with the Albanian government to protect property. The apathy of Athens, to respond to the robbery of the properties in just the time, that OSCE, under the process of the registration of property in Ionian Coast, from European taxpayers, without any trasparence, is favoring according to Albanian law, alienation of property, of the Greek community , with the false documents.

Berisha: albanophobia threatens inter region

Berisha: "We must accept that they are the only people who live in 5 states. A nation that is unjustly divided into 5 states, a nation that wants to look to a common future. But again albanophobia is still in action " Albanian Prime Minister for the second time, threatening Greece, claiming that Albanians in Greece, should join the Albanian state.

NORTHERN EPIRUS THROUGH THE CENTURIES(LECTURE OF VASILIOS KYRANIS, Harvard University -1981) AL

Christos Pappas, in an interview with Arthur Zhei, News 24 TV

Pappas: "Northern Epirus is a region that holds arbitrary from Albania, as recognized by the great powers, the Protocol of Corfu. The Law of War against Albania, can not remove from Papoulias nor Greek parliament, but the Greek army is ready to liberate the Northern Epirus, again

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After a life threatening message to Archbishop Janullatos

42 Orthodox clergy against census and Red & Black Alliance: Janullatos has not afraid of death 42 Tirana archdiocese Orthodox clergy have reacted with a joint statement in defense of Anastasios Yannoulatos. Their attitude comes after strong reactions against the Red & Black Alliance, for Archbishop and after a census that sees Orthodox in third place in terms of religion in the country.

Albania: 100 years, Berisha plays 'great Albania' trump card

In Tirana Albanian leaders, tensions with Macedonia 28 November, 10:49 (ANSAmed) - TIRANA, NOVEMBER 28 - Albania's black and red national flag with a double-headed eagle is waving across the country which is celebrating today its 100th anniversary of independence in a tense political climate. The centre-right Premier Sali Berisha has been calling for days for an ethnic-national unification of all Albanians living in different Balkan states, in efforts to revive a strong nationalism which is rejected by Albania's opposition.

The Official Site of The Himara Community

CONTINUES THE DEBATE IN WASHINGTON D.C. FOR THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS FROM NORTHERN

According to the Greek organisation of Albania estimates there are thousands of Greek American citizens from Northern Epirus (Southern Albania) which is refering the Journalist Lambros Papantoniou, asking the Spokesman of State Department for the rights of American citizens with Greek origin to take their properties in Southern Albania. Papantoniou is refereeing a Memo between Albanian State and USA about the civil rights especially for the properties of American citizens who are interested to take them according to Albanian Constitution and laws the properties of family generation. This is the second debate of the veteran Journalist for Balkan Issues in State Department Lambros Papantoiou who accuses over all the Sali Berisha Regim in Albania supported by the President Bush.

A Response to AFP

SManalysis Orthodox churches of Albania, are Byzantine churches, belong to the property of the population of Epirus.....

Avramopoulos`s speach during NATO meeting

Greece threatens Albania blocking the integration process after Berisha's statements Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, has expressed his concern at the NATO ministerial meeting about rising tide of nationalism in Albania and premature declarations of the government. In a press release the Greek Foreign Ministry said that "the growth of nationalism and populism in some of our neighboring countries is a source of great concern."

The U.S. talk of "change of borders in the Balkans"

Message-warning sent to Albania by the U.S. representative to the State Department, which in a statement said that any change of borders in the Balkans "would be counterproductive and destabilizing," but the issue is that for the first time put the U.S. even and negative mood on any change of borders in the Balkans ...

INUK në Vlorë, pronarët: Me dokumenta të rregullta dhe leje ndërtimi

ENIKOS.GR

GREEK NEWS FROM NIKO`S BLOG

PREMIUM, THE GREEK TRASFORMATION

The "Kissinger Plan": Confederations Macedonia, Epirus, Thrache,

THE BIG CHANGE IN PERIVOLO, DRYMADES, HIMARA REGION

Dhermi, (Drymades, Himara Region) between natural beauty and destruction Look at those videos, before in 2010, everything natural and in 2012 the differences, the big changes how are divided Mafia plots, see whose investments are shown, with the camera of a sportsman parachute, in Long Beach "Perivolo" in Dhrymades, the Himara Region. Look at how this summer 2012, the Concessions of Mafia provided by The Himara Counsil Municipality and the Government of Albania, have become a reality. The Sand Beach Drymades, is transformed in the sidewalks and kiosks. See how they are transformed Dhermi, in a few years, in an administrative center, disrupting also balance the religious and ethnic composition of himariotes.

Robert Elsie: If I would live in Albania, it would be crazy. It is the same as in Ottoman times

After known albanolog Milan Shufla, Robert Elsie is the best conteproranean albanian albanolog in the World During his intereweu on "Top Channely TV, Robert Elsie, on his first interview on TV. expresed his story about Albanian and Albanian state in 100 years. An interesting tale scholar known for his work difficulties in view of the Albanian language. Elsie, who knows Albanians for years, amounts to a chilling conclusion. He says he will not ever live in Albania, as it will go mad. "I can not live here. It's a little wild for me, the relationships between people are a bit wild. I know that is just a facade that inside have good spirit, but have a rabies in human relations. You know how to protect yourself here, and here I am like a rabbit, he can not defend myself. I come here with pleasure, but do not believe they can afford to come and live here forever. There is much frustration of everyday life. Life is too short and I do not have time to bump into obstacles, only to achieve something, when in another country and get away and then live my life, "said Elsie to Albanian. And while Enver Hoxha's Albania as compared with that of Sali Berisha, adds: "There is something that depends only on the party, it's more the attitude of the people. So to get something going, you have to know someone in the Ministry, to drink coffee with, then drink coffee again next week with even a third time, and then he connects with the person that you are interested . That is the same as in Ottoman times, not like a normal country. ".

Separatists gaining ground in Europe

Greece, is going to Plan B: grant for 600 thousand Greek citizenship, at the Consulates

Failure of the Census in Albania, apparently, has forced Athens, put in place, going to Plan B to its foreign policy, grant citizenship to all Hellenic Community of Northern Epirus (Greek passports) through three Greek consulates in Albania. According to “The Albanian newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare”, in a statement issued by the Greek Consul in Argjirokaster, Nikolaos Kotroxois, will begin soon, giving the Greek passports to Albanian citizens of Greek descent, who have applied for years. The decision is taken, after Athens, has used all diplomatic sources to have to Tirana, the same wavelength, particularly in geopolitical matters, particularly Kosovo. In his statement, the Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas, noted, that Tirana, continues to show towards Greece, feeling not sincere cooperation, while simultaneously calling for the right to self-determination of the Greek community in Albania.

BERISHA: GREATER ALBANIA, WE LOST TERRITORIES

he Albanian Prime Minister held a meeting with Prishtina University students, in which he argued why he is against the unification of Albania with Kosovo and why both countries would lose, if borders would be changed. “The vital interest of the Albanians is to preserve the current borders, and the Albanians should not accept, at any cost, to lose a single square meter of the land they are entitled to. Another redraw of the borders would mark undeserved losses of the Albanian territories. We must be patient, free, and should not undertake any action that threatens territorial losses. Every generation has to make its duty, and this generation made it”, Berisha declared.

Dimas:"The Greek ethnic Community in Albania has the right of free of charge self-determination"

The reliability of the results of population census in Albania, in terms of minority groups, directly challenging the foreign minister Stavros Dimas, diaminyontas same time that the Respect for human and minority rights is … crucial criterion for the progress of the accession method of our neighbor. In a letter sent to the Home in response to a question from a Member of LA.OS K. Aivaliotis, Dimas says that “the foreign ministry has closely followed all the developments surrounding the census in Albania, even though produced timely plays, both bilateral and European level to make sure the integrity process and unimpeded registration of members of the Greek National Minority, and each location of residence of such ». As outlined, the “Selection of the representatives of the main minority groups, including the Greek National Minority, invite their members to abstain in protest not guaranteed to respect the right of free of charge self-determination, showed a significant deficit of trust minority in the Albanian state, which ought to itself the Albanian government to address priority ».

The Constitutional Court Decision on December 1, the Latter abolished the term Ethnic certificate of Its Citizens. In the Decision, panels argues why the notion of "nationality" is incompatible with the constitution When Its state charter law does not provid a clear definition of Its meaning. In Assessing the Court, "nationality" as defined concept without, unlike Other components of civil law does not Create a link that 'translates the Mutual rights and duties of Natural Persons and state.

While the total population in Himara Municipality, does not exceed 12 thousand inhabitants, a source from the prosecution of Vlora, shows that the problems of ownership at the squirrels region have reached the 7500 court proceedings and special investigations, which marks a world record, by how a country like Albania, could not manage the right of ownership, in one of the areas attacked by the Albanian mafia and international. However, the U.S. Department Report for 2004 on human rights in Albania, states clearly that in the Himara Municipality, the community lands and the Orthodox Church, was robbed by a Courts with false documents, supported by the Office of Propetry Registration in Albania.

Arben Puto: Albania has declared war against Greece first

In his book "The Italian Greek War", Arben Puto, well known historian of the era of dictatorship in Albania, writes that: "In a unanimous decision of the Albanian Parliament on July 15, 1940, was ratified, the Italian Fascist royal decree, which declared all war allies France and Britain, including the USA and Greece. So need to Albanians, to be aware that Greece was not declared war Albania, but Albania, with military battalions that attacked Greece on 28 October 1940 ".

WB returns to Ionian Riviera residence reconstruction

Another World Bank project is being executed with the help of the Albanian authorities for the reconstruction of the residences in Albania’s southern coastline. The 625.000 USD project aims to protect and promote the values of the Albanian national architecture in the Southern part of the country, in order to prevent destruction and abandonment of the traditional houses. “Shqip” newspapers says that the Ministry of Public Works is the WB partner in the “Roofs and Facades” project. The implementation of the program has started in the villages classified as participators: Dhermi i Vjeter, Qeparo i Vjeter, Ilias, Vuno, Himare e Vjeter, Piqeras, Nivice and Luksht. The World Bank will finance 70% of the restauration cost, with a maximum of 7000 USD, while the program “Accommodation and Breakfast” will finance 50 of the restoration cost, with a maximum of 5,000 USD. The program “Roofs and Facades” aims to restore 72 houses in 18 months. 20 of them will adopt with the conditions of modern life, in the framework of the program “Accommodation and Breakfast”.

In Albania, at 20 years post-dictatorship, 8 thousands murders, for the issue of property

The shocking data, are given by the Prosecutor General, to the Albanian press Shocking facts which, in the wake of Albania rank Civil War, the high level of killings, including the year 1997 Through the Albanian press, Attorney General, has published shocking facts about the increasing number of murders in Albania, especially for issues of ownership. Clic on photo ....

Himara 26 centuries, a history of glorious Independence

HIMARA, THE NEXT MONTE CARLO`S IN EPIRUS

First step to Greater Albania: Kosovo Opens First Highway Section

A 38 kilometre-tranche of the road, which will eventually cross the country from the Albanian to Serbian border, was opened on Saturday. The first section, which runs from Vermica on the Albanian border to close to the town of Suhareka, cost 330 million euro. Senior Kosovo and Albania government officials were present at the inauguration ceremony. In a speech, Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga said that the "highway has the role of linking nations and countries". "It is our link with important European corridors. Our coordinated policy will make us a free and equal members of the European Union," she added. Named the "Ibrahim Rugova Highway", after Kosovo's most famous president, the road connects with Albania's first highway, which was also built by the Turkish-American consortium Bechtel-Enka.

George Goro: Registration of properties on the southern coast of Albania faces difficulties

The process of registration of property in southern coastal areas of Albania is getting quite difficult. Mayor George Himara Goro says it has so far only completed the registration of houses and land but not land. Problems with documentation and the implementation of the Land Law difficult, according to him, residents in this process.

The Monument of Independence of Albania, is in hassle

PDIU Cam Community Party, the Socialist Party's local leader in Vlora, and "Red & Black Alliance", are making a nationalistic competition, the Monument of Independence and the Albanian national flag. Few days ago, Prime Minister Sali Berisha, said the establishment of a new monument to the independence of Albania in Tirana, implying, dismiss the historical tradition of Albanian independence in Vlora.

Himarrioton Society of America

The Himarriotans of America, motivated by the love of Himarra, the land of their native origin, and dedicated to the noblest ideals of their forfathers, have established this organization which aspires to the cultivation and preservation of Himarriotic culture in America, to making a positive difference in the lives of its members, and to promoting the rights and interests of the Himarriotans in Himarra, through the realization of patriotic, charitable, philanthropic, educational and cultural endeavors.

Opinion in Kosovo: "Socialists in Albania, are filo Greek"

The Chairman of the Opposition in Albania, Edi Rama, accused by the press in Kosovo that "he is with filo Greek sentiments" If, Sali Berisha, Albania's current prime minister, is expected both in Macedonia and Kosovo, as president of the Albanian nation, this has not happened with the chairman of the opposition in Albania, Edi Rama. During a recent visit to Kosovo, Edi Rama is unpopular, the fact that the perception of public opinion in Kosovo, is that the south, is the area close to Greece, but especially Rama and the Socialist Party, was accused of holding a position filo Greek, against the interests of Greater Albania.